KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs knew they would have to buy some time until Rashee Rice returned from his suspension.
Then they lost Xavier Worthy to a shoulder injury, and buying time before both wide receivers came back was a daunting prospect.
Especially when the Chiefs were mired in an 0-2 start.
But on a team with stars such as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, it was unheralded Tyquan Thornton who came up big in New York on Sunday night. The 2022 second-round pick of the New England Patriots, who is getting a fresh start in Kansas City, made a series of crucial catches to help the Chiefs to a desperately needed 22-9 victory over the Giants.
There was the 33-yard grab on third-and-10. The 21-yarder on third-and-6. And the 5-yard touchdown catch on third-and-3, which gave the Chiefs a 16-6 lead midway through the third quarter — the kind of breathing room they haven't had all season.
“He's showing some things,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I know JuJu (Smith-Schuster) spoke highly of him when he was with the Patriots, and (former Patriots coach) Bill Belichick had compliments. And he's come in here and done nothing but work hard.”
That work is paying off. Thornton finished with a career-high five catches for 71 yards and the touchdown in New York.
It's been a nice turnaround for Thornton after three disappointing years in New England. The former Baylor speedster played in just 28 games and had 39 catches for 385 yards and two touchdowns, both during his 2022 rookie season.
He already has nine catches for 171 yards and two scores with Kansas City this season.
“I mean, practice reps became game reality,” Thornton said. “You go out there, you work at the little things, you challenge yourself, you don't shy away from it. You go out there on Sunday and you give yourself a chance.”
Now, the Chiefs are halfway through Rice's six-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, and there is a chance that Worthy plays on Sunday against Baltimore after he practiced in full late last week. And with their first win behind them, Thornton and the Chiefs feel a whole lot better about their prospects going forward.
“We were better together. We'd had too many mistakes — one thing here, one thing there. Some of that can be that you're just trying too hard at times and dumb things can happen,” Reid said. “Everything's about execution on the opposite side, but you have everybody doing it. I have to make sure I get them in the right position to do those things. Team effort, but everybody has to come together on that, and I thought they did a better job.”
The Chiefs secondary struggled against the Chargers' Justin Herbert in a season-opening loss in Brazil. But it played better against the Eagles in Week 2 and shut down the Giants on Sunday. The group picked off Russell Wilson twice and held Giants star Malik Nabers to two catches on seven targets for just 13 yards.
“They’ve been playing great these past two weeks, playing winning football,” Mahomes said. “They’re playing tight coverage, they are rushing, they are blitzing. They’re doing all type of different stuff that you’re supposed to do as a winning defense.”
Offensive consistency, especially in the red zone. The Chiefs were effective in the second half Sunday, scoring two touchdowns, but that came after a first half in which they were held to just three field goals.
George Karlaftis is living up to the four-year, $93 million extension he signed in July. He had four quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, a sack and a pass defensed to go with eight total tackles in the win over the Giants.
Harrison Butker missed a 40-yard field-goal try in the second quarter and an extra-point attempt in the fourth. The NFL's highest-paid kicker has already missed two field goals and two PATs this season.
The Chiefs sustained no serious injuries in the game.
245 — That's the number of yards passing the Chiefs have allowed total in games against the Eagles and Giants.
The Chiefs have another marquee matchup against the Ravens on Sunday.
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Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyquan Thornton speaks during a news conference following an NFL football game against the New York Giants early Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyquan Thornton (80) is congratulated by teammate Travis Kelce after catching a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyquan Thornton (80) scores as New York Giants cornerback Dru Phillips (22) defends during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
BERLIN (AP) — The eight European countries targeted by U.S. President Donald Trump for a 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland blasted the move Sunday, warning that the American leader's threats “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
In an unusual and very strong joint statement coming from major U.S. allies, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland on Sunday said troops sent to Greenland for the Danish military training exercise “Arctic Endurance” pose “no threat to anyone.”
Trump's Saturday announcement sets up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security.
“We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland," the group said. “Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to implement the tariffs because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was unclear, too, how Trump could act under U.S. law, though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from the divisions between the U.S. and Europe. She added in a post on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity."
Trump's move was also panned domestically.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, posted that Trump’s threatened tariffs on U.S. allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”
“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on social media. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”
Six of the countries targeted are part of the 27-member EU, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was not immediately clear if Trump's tariffs would impact the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for Sunday evening to determine a potential response.
The tariff announcement even drew blowback from Trump's populist allies in Europe.
Italy’s right-wing premier, Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said Sunday she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as “a mistake.”
The deployment to Greenland of small numbers of troops by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni told reporters. She said the deployment was not a move against the U.S. but aimed to provide security against “other actors” that she didn’t name.
French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media that “no intimidation or threats will influence us, whether in Ukraine, Greenland or anywhere else in the world when we are faced with such situations." He added that "tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context.”
Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and also a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S., describing Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”
Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties — including the hard-right Reform UK party — all of whom criticized the tariff threat.
“We don’t always agree with the U.S. government and in this case we certainly don’t. These tariffs will hurt us,” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longtime champion and ally of Trump, wrote on social media. He stopped short of criticizing Trump's designs on Greenland.
Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the center-left Labour Party, said the tariffs announcement was “completely wrong” and his government would “be pursuing this directly with the U.S. administration.”
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway are also expected to address the crisis Sunday in Oslo during a news conference.
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Leicester reported from Paris and Cook from Brussels. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Aamer Madhani in Washington and Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
A crowd walks to the US consulate to protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A boy holds a crossed out map of Greenland topped by a hairpiece symbolizing U.S. President Donald Trump, during a protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
